Pamela Harris of Lake County is the home health care provider for her adult son, who suffers from a genetic condition that causes severe physical and developmental disabilities.

Harris and others like her who provide care for loved ones receive a Medicaid stipend from state-administered programs designed to help people with disabilities continue to live in their homes.

Harris and seven others sued Gov. Pat Quinn, arguing they were not state employees and should not be forced to join a union or pay so-called fair share dues or “agency fees” to cover unions’ bargaining costs.

The case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, with the court ruling 5-4 in June that the workers could not be forced to join the union or pay fees.

While the court held those caring for family were not state employees, the ruling did not invalidate mandatory union membership for traditional state employees.

In the December 2012 contract between the Illinois Department of Human Services and the union and an accompanying document, the paid training sessions were identified as voluntary.

However, in a December 2013 side letter between IDHS and Service Employees International, the document specifies the sessions are mandatory for both newly hired and “incumbent” members of the bargaining unit.

The contracts also makes clear the union will have time for recruiting: “The Union shall have 30 minutes of access to training for the purpose of meeting and talking with Personal Assistants and distributing and collecting membership cards in accordance with current practice. Such time spent shall be unpaid. The state shall furnish the Union with a table at the entrance and exit to all trainings.”

The state is obligated to pay up to $2 million annually to the union for the training sessions, according to the contractual documents of 2012 and 2013.

Are those personal health care assistants exempted by the Supreme Courts’ Harris v. Quinn decision compelled to attend the sessions and the half-hour union pitches?

For the most part, yes, said Bill Messenger, the National Right to Work Committee lawyer who represented the plaintiffs in Harris v. Quinn.

He said although personal assistants can no longer be forced to join the union or pay agency fees, they are still considered members of the bargaining unit. As such, the training sessions, including the union pitch, are mandatory.

When the courts rule in their favor, why, it’s settled! When the courts rule against them, there are ways around it. Another current example: The President will work with Congress… as long as they do only those things he wants done. Otherwise, he’ll be “forced” to go it alone.

That’s the state of freedom in America.

There’s a reason this nation has long been called the “Great Experiment in Liberty.” Some men and women think the only freedom allowable is what they approve. In other words, some men and women simply want to be God and get the power to make all the rules for you.